Timothy Bradley Jr.'s take: How does Terence Crawford stack up against Shawn Porter?

Terence Crawford defends his WBO welterweight championship against Shawn Porter on Saturday in Las Vegas (9 p.m. ET, ESPN+PPV). It stands as the biggest challenge to date for Crawford, ESPN's No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer.

Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), 34, of Omaha, Nebraska, hasn't fought since a fourth-round TKO victory over Kell Brook in November 2020. For Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs), also 34, of Akron, Ohio, this is his first fight since defeating Sebastian Formella by unanimous decision in August 2020.

Can Crawford retain his title and undefeated record? Or will Porter, who has taken some of the biggest names at 147 pounds to the limit, dethrone him?

ESPN analyst and two-division world champion Timothy Bradley Jr. breaks down everything you need to know about both fighters ahead of their title clash.

I remember sparring Terence Crawford years ago, and as we got going I was like, "OK, I'm going to push the pace now." And he responded by raising his game. And as I kept raising my game in response, he would raise his.

It got to a point where it doesn't matter what I did, he'd have an equal response. I brought the intensity, and Crawford adjusted. I slowed it down, and then Crawford brought up his own intensity. He always had something for what I did.

Crawford is a once-in-a-generational talent. Throughout boxing history, we have seen many styles, but nothing like Crawford's. Crawford is fluid, calm, and immensely diversified in his craft. His greatest quality is his superior ring IQ. Crawford has an extraordinary sense of distance, positioning, and control that enhances his ability to make adjustments.

He may get hit once, maybe twice with a particular punch, but he will quickly take that option away. Whether he's in the southpaw stance or orthodox stance, Crawford has punching power in both hands. He dominates out of the southpaw stance by controlling the lead hand of his opponents while positioning his lead foot outside their lead foot.

He is equipped with a full punch arsenal from both sides. Moving forward isn't a problem, nor is moving backwards and countering effectively. There is not one thing Crawford cannot do inside the ring. Most of the challenges he has faced in his career stem from fighting down to the level of his competition.

What does Shawn Porter bring to the table?

Shawn Porter is the Grim Reaper of the welterweight division. He comes into the ring with one thing on his mind -- to collect the soul and heart of his adversaries. He is not your typical swarmer, although tremendous pressure is part of his arsenal.

Porter has a masterful ability to alter his rhythm and go from boxing to brawling on command. Sometimes he attacks explosively with combinations, starting behind a double jab to close the distance, followed by a right and finishing with a left.

Once Porter reaches the pocket, he digs viciously downstairs to weaken his opponents. He adds small positional shifts and pivots, creating a different angle for each punch.

Some fighters aren't great from outside at distance, and Porter certainly falls in this category. However, he uses a different tactic to combat his inability to operate totally from the outside. He relies on body contact, occasionally bodying up with his opposition while applying shoulder bumps, pushing, mauling, and fighting frantically to overwhelm an opponent.

His main objective is to disrupt timing and knock his opponent off-balance. Porter's fighting style is somewhat choppy, unpredictable, intoxicating and also powerful -- all at the same time. Porter seems to always be in motion -- moving erratically, forcefully, and swiftly. What he does depends entirely on what's in front of him.

Porter has two advantages in this showdown. One, he has fought every top welterweight in the division, except for Crawford. That gives him a barometer on heavy punchers and the experience in dealing with complex fighting styles. I'm sure he has retained plenty of things that happened against Errol Spence Jr., Keith Thurman and other tough opponents, and learned a lot from those experiences that he will make sure to employ in this battle.

Crawford started his career off at 135 pounds, and as a result, Porter is considered to be the naturally bigger man. Therein lies his second advantage, at least on paper. Porter fought as high as 165 pounds in the amateurs. This also explains why Porter has an unbelievable ability to take a punch from the heaviest hitters at 147, and why he's never been knocked out and has only been down twice in his pro career.

Could size and power be the key factor in this fight?

The bigger someone is, the harder they punch, all other things being equal. Taking a punch is part mental and part physical. The fact that Porter has been hit by bigger men in the past, his body physically adapted and seemingly improved his tolerance to absorb a harder punch. This is an ability in itself, and it's something that Porter will need to lean on as he competes against the most avoided boxer on the planet.

But I don't think Porter's going to outslug Crawford, and I don't think Porter's going to be able to bully Crawford on the inside. Crawford is sneaky strong. You don't expect him to be as strong as he is, because of his size and his frame, but he's extremely strong when he's fighting on the inside.

Crawford has the tools to respond to the power of Porter too. When Crawford was younger, he was a wrestler, so he understands weight transfer in a way a lot of other boxers don't. He understands how to move guys and how to tie up guys, how to get around guys, especially strong guys like Porter. I think that Crawford has an answer for everything in his arsenal for a guy like Porter.

How do you see Crawford-Porter playing out?

Porter has had issues with counterpunchers throughout his career. Julio Diaz, Yordenis Ugas, Kell Brook and Thurman were all good counterpunchers, and they fought well off their back foot, as well as posturing while moving forward and being set and ready to punch.

Porter will attempt to box Crawford early by using lateral movement, pendulum bouncing plus feints to disguise his offense. He will have a hard time being successful with that, though, because Crawford is taller and has longer reach. As a result, Porter will eventually default to pressuring and taking more risks.

That will play directly into Crawford's natural ability and usage of his interchangeable offense. Not only will Crawford hit Porter while moving backward, he will catch Porter on his way out, too. Among the many ways Crawford can control the way the fight plays out is Crawford's body-control pivots, which will turn Porter.

Porter also has a tipoff combination when closing the distance: It's a 1-1-2-1. Crawford will make Porter's first jab fall short by stepping back, and then simultaneously counter Porter's second jab with a chopping right hand -- similar to the right hand Crawford hit Amir Khan with as he attempted to close the gap behind his jab.

There are just too many holes in Porter's game for Crawford not to exploit them. This will be the best Crawford we have ever seen in his career. It will be must-watch TV, and I've got Crawford winning by a TKO late.

With a win, could Crawford vs. Spence finally happen? And what comes next if it doesn't?